Yamina Bachir

Algerian film director (1954–2022)

Yamina Bachir-Chouikh

Born	(1954-03-20)20 March 1954 Algiers, French Algeria, France
Died	3 April 2022(2022-04-03) (aged 68)
Occupation(s)	Film director Screenwriter
Years active	1982–2022

Yamina Bachir (20 March 1954 – 3 April 2022^[1]) was an Algerian film director and screenwriter. Her film Rachida was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.^[2] According to Roy Armes, Rachida is 'the first 35mm feature directed by an Algerian woman in Algeria'.^[3] The film was primarily financed by French and European funding companies. It was popular in Algeria and was distributed internationally in France.

Career and personal life

Bachir attended the National Film School where she studied editing.^[4] She is best known for her work Rachida which took her five years to produce.^[5] Rachida has been the only Algerian film screened for the Un Certain Regard prize.^[6]

Bachir was married to fellow Algerian director Mohammed Chouikh. She has a son and three daughters.^[4] During the Black Decade, Bachir-Chouikh stayed in Algeria where she worked as a film editor on her husband's films.^[3]

Filmography

Sandstorm (1982)
Rachida (2002)

References

^ La cinéaste algérienne Yamina Bachir s’éteint (in French)
^ "Festival de Cannes: Sandstorm". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
^ ^a ^b Armes, Roy, New Voices in Arab Cinema (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), p. 104
^ ^a ^b Dupont, Joan (5 February 2003). "Giving a human face to Algeria's horror". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
^ Corm, Carole (2004). "A Woman's Struggle in Midst of War". Al Jadid: A Review & Record of Arab Culture and Arts. 10 (46). Retrieved 18 December 2015.
^ Hillauer, Rebecca (2005). Encyclopedia of Arab women filmmakers. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press. p. 275. ISBN 9789774162688.